BackAndForwardUtility: A Simple .NET Add-in for Microsoft MapPoint

MapPoint 2009 introduced a new redesigned and streamlined interfaced which eliminated a couple of little-used buttons - the back and forward buttons for navigating map views. Richard Marsden shows how to get the functionality back using a .NET Add-in.

This article demonstrates how to create a simple COM add-in
for Microsoft MapPoint, written using the .NET framework. This add-in
implements the “Back” and “Forward” view buttons as menu items on the Tools
menu. These are absent in MapPoint 2009, but the underlying API calls are still
present.

The add-in is very simple with only two menu items and two
short menu event handlers. It is implemented using C#. The project is created
using Visual Studio 2005 and requires version 2.0 of the .NET framework. The
completed installer and the source code (released under the Berkeley License)
are available from http://www.mapping-tools.com/backandforwardutility/index.shtml
.

So let’s start building the project! Start Visual Studio
2005, and select Create Project. Select Shared Add-in from the
Extensibility project templates, and enter the name of your project (BackAndForwardUtility):

Press OK. This will start the Visual Studio Add-in Wizard.
Select your required programming language on the first panel of the wizard. We
shall choose Visual C#.

The second panel lets you choose the application host. We want
our add-in to work with MapPoint and only MapPoint. Set the MapPoint checkbox,
and clear all of the other check boxes:

MapPoint will only appear in this dialog box if it has been
installed and the COM server has been registered properly. Re-install if it
does not appear. A reboot might be necessary.

The third panel lets you enter add-in name and description
to be used by MapPoint:

The fourth panel lets you choose how the add-in will be
installed and loaded. We shall set it to load with the application (so it is
always on the Tools menu), and for it to be available for all users:

The fifth and final panel simply summarizes your options.
Press Finish to complete the wizard.

The wizard will create a solution with both the main add-in
project and a setup project. For now we shall concentrate on the add-in. The
main add-in code is in Connect.cs. This controls the connection of the
add-in to MapPoint, eg. Adding / removing menu items, and handling event
callbacks.

You may have to manually add the MapPoint references. Do
this by right clicking on the project in the Solution Explorer and select “Add
Reference”. Then select the Microsoft MapPoint object library from the list of
available COM components. In this example we choose MapPoint Europe 2009.
MapPoint 2009 has a COM library version of 16.0. It does not matter if
you select the European or North American edition. The final add-in will work
with both.

Visual Studio will add a MapPoint TLB file and COM interop
for MapPoint to the installation package, the first time the installer is
built.

Our add-in requires two menu items and matching callbacks.
All of this code is implemented in the main Connect.cs source file,
because it is very simple. A more substantial add-in should be implemented with
multiple classes. Dialog boxes would also require their own classes.

Here is the complete Connect.cs source code. All of
the comments are mine: For clarity, I have removed the boilerplate comments
created by Visual Studio.

We should now have a working add-in and installer. We shall
add a couple of items to the installer to make it easier to use. We need a
Start Menu folder that has links to the license text and the uninstaller.

We will start with the uninstaller. We need to create a
short batch file that executes msiexec. Create a batch file in the BackAndForwardUtility
project directory called uninst.bat with the following contents:

@echo
off

REM
Uninstall script for the BackAndForwardUtility add-in for Microsoft MapPoint

REM
http://www.mapping-tools.com/backandforward/index.shtml

%WINDIR%\system32\msiexec.exe
/x %1

Add this file to the installer project (BackAndForwardUtilitySetup).
This will ensure that it is installed with the rest of BackAndForwardUtility.

Similarly create a text file called license.txt and
enter the license text before adding it to the installer project. The BackAndForwardUtility
is distributed under the Berkeley License:

License
for the BackAndForwardUtility

-------------------------------------

Copyright
(c) 2009, Winwaed Software Technology LLC

All
rights reserved.

Redistribution
and use in source and binary forms, with or without

modification,
are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright

notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright

notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the

documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

* Neither the name of Winwaed Software Technology LLC nor the

names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products

derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS
SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Winwaed Software Technology LLC ''AS IS'' AND ANY

EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED

WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE

DISCLAIMED.
IN NO EVENT SHALL Winwaed Software Technology LLC BE LIABLE FOR ANY

(INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;

LOSS
OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND

ON
ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT

(INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS

SOFTWARE,
EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Further
details about the BackAndForwardUtility can be found at:

http://www.mapping-tools.com/backandforward/index.shtml

Now we just need to create the Start Menu folder. Double
click on one of the files in the installer project to display the File
System window. This shows you the file system on the target computer. It
should look something like this:

The above shows the files that will be copied into the
Application Folder.

Right click on User’s Program Menu and select Add->Folder.
Name the new folder “BackAndForwardUtility”. This is the name of the new
folder that will be created in the user’s Start Menu. Open the new folder, and right
click on the main pane to the right. Select Create Shortcut and navigate
to the license.txt file in the Application Folder.
Enter the display name of “License”.

Before adding the link to the uninstaller, you will need to
find the Product Code. The Product Code is listed as one of the properties at
the top level of the installer project (select the installer project top level
in the Solution Explorer – Product Code will be in the Properties pane). For
this project it is: {2AA953AE-12E5-4596-B513-BE2EEA67F994}. Copy this
code into the clipboard.

Now go back to the File System window. Select the BackAndForwardUtility
folder in the User’s Program Menu that you have just created. Add a new
shortcut. This time link it to uninst.bat and give it the name of “Uninstall
BackAndForwardUtility”. Paste the Product Code into the Arguments property
for the new shortcut. This is what it should now look like:

You are now ready to do a complete build of the add-in
project and the installer!

Using .NET with MapPoint add-ins can be difficult at times,
but this is all that is required to create a simple add-in and a working
installer.

Prior to Winwaed, Richard worked as a software developer working on
seismic processing algorithms for the oil exploration industry. He holds
geology and geophysics degrees from the University of Cambridge
(Churchill College), and the University of Durham; and an
interdisciplinary MBA from the University of Dallas.